They are big and boring-looking, but light commercial vehicles are crucial to the financial health of many European volume brands.

LCVs provide hefty profits -- as high as 9 percent -- and that cash has been invaluable to companies such as Renault, Fiat, Peugeot and Opel in the last few years.

"Profitability on making cars has gone from poor to utterly dismal, with vicious pricing and no action on capacity. Along with some BRIC earnings (Brazil, Russia), the profits and cash flow from LCVs are critical to subsidize passenger car losses," Bernstein Research analyst Max Warburton says.